"YEARS FROM NOW, PEOPLE WILL REMEMBER IT AS THE NIGHT THE TREES WEPT"

Hello everyone,

Let me first say that never have I flicked on so many light switches that result in no light... I live around the area of Buffalo, NY. On October 12th (Thursday) we had a freak snow storm. We recieved two feet of heavy, slushy snow and with most tree's still bearing leaves, it was chaos. It set the record for the most snow on an October day in the 137 years the National Weather Service has been in operation.

The snow weighed down the branches, causing them to crack and fall. My power went out on Thursday at 7:30 due to fallen branches on power lines. I was not alone as 70-90% of people in the Buffalo, Amherst, Kenmore, and surrounding area's were w/o heat or power.

All anyone could do was light candles and wrap up in blankets.The first night was eerie. The ONLY sound I could hear was the cracking and falling of branches outside and all down my block. It was a death sentence to walk outside because of the falling limbs. The next morning all area's were in a state of emergency and had driving bans.

Outside it was sunny and almost warm, the damage didn't look TOO bad since all the limbs were snow-covered. People everywhere were outside assessing the damage and trying to find a route to leave their houses. All businesses and schools were closed, the town was at a stand-still.

As the snow melted the roads cleared a bit, but the melting snow caused flooding in basements. The following days brought more horror than hope. With the melted snow gone, one could see the TRUE distruction. While driving down streets (if it was at all accessible) was like driving through a forest.

Tree's were down, WHOLE tree's and live powerlines lay torn to shreds on the streets and sidewalks. People, including my family, desparatly searched stores for generators. My neighbors drove three hours away to retrieve one. And once one did manage to get one the wait for gas was hours. There were many deaths due to generators run inside or without enough ventilation since they produce carbon monoxide.

They're horrible, gas guzzling machines that are noisey and downright dangerous, but I can't complain about the heat or light it provided. My main concern from the beginning were my pets. My hedgehog, who will go into hibernation with low temperatures could die. And my hermit crabs needed a heat lamp. I knew of one house with power and one with a fireplace so off my pets went.

Anyways, throughtout the next week power was restored slowly but surely. Companies out of state came to help and worked 19 hr days. Unfortunatly my power was not restored until last Saturday night leaving me w/o electricity for 11 days. It was interesting, frustrating at times, but I couldn't be angry about it.

National Grid and NYSEG worked their hardest to restore as much power as soon as possible. Now its just clean-up thats going on. The city looks different and bare without the massive, beautiful tree's it had only a week and 1/2 ago.

Here are some photo's that cannot really show how bad it was/is but it may give you an idea. This truely was a freak storm that has changed Buffalo forever.

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